Organizational Governance and Performance Management

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
Organizational Governance and Performance Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Health policies often undergo changes in order to accommodate improvement to
existing policies which allows further improvement in the health and wellbeing of the people.
These changes are called health reforms (Nay et al., 2016). The health reforms can be
addressed to several healthcare priority areas which provide an updated guideline for the
healthcare providers, supporting them to deliver care in a more effective manner and monitor
the outcomes in a more efficient way (Blank et al., 2017). In the last five years, Australian
Government has introduced many reforms to existing healthcare policies with the objective to
make them more comprehensive and effective. One of the most significant reforms has been
in mental healthcare through with the Australian Government and healthcare Delivery
systems have attempted to further improve the delivery and efficacy of mental healthcare
throughout Australia (Contandriopoulos et al., 2018; Griffiths et al., 2015). The aim of this
report is to analyze the mental healthcare reform 2012-2022 developed by the Council Of
Australian Government (COAG) to improve the health and wellbeing of patients living with
mental health conditions (Shin & Kim, 2015). The report also aims to develop an
understanding of the main objectives of the reform, the underlying principles, and the role of
the government in the development and implementation of the reform, the various challenges
associated with the reform and recommendations that can be used to overcome such
challenges.
Objective:
The main objective of the mental health reform is to provide a continuous service for
mental healthcare and ensure transparency of care. With the advent of modern technologies in
healthcare, a significant challenge has been posed to the healthcare providers regarding the
incorporation of these technologies into the existing care framework and improving access to

2ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
various types of clinical information (Happell et al., 2017). The mental health reform aims to
involve the modern technologies in order to improve accessibility to a wider range of
information such as the experiences of the patient on the service provided, information
related to service failure and about evidence based methods and approaches that can be used
in mental healthcare (Gillieatt et al., 2018). The mental healthcare reform also aims to bring
about a transformation to the existing mental healthcare system, by developing new standards
and protocols of care which can address the mental health needs of the patients. On the short
term, the reforms aim to provide a plan for care delivery for patients living with mental health
conditions by involving Primary Healthcare Networks (PHNs) (Wakerman et al., 2017).
Through the reform the PHN will have the responsibility of supervising the mental healthcare
facilities in the territories and states by following the Medicine benefit Schedule (MBS) in
order to identify the exact nature of the mental health problem faced by each patient which
can then be used to develop a primary care plan. Through this strategy the reform aims to
improve as well as enhance the care as well as develop the referral to other more relevant
services to ensure better continuity of care (Powell Davies et al., 2017). The long term goal
addressed by the reform is to properly monitor the delivery of mental health services for
patients living with mild to moderate mental health problems. The reform also has another
long term objective of identifying the inadequacies of mental health services and
psychological therapies available for mental health patients mainly in the remote and rural
areas of Australia, therefore helping to understand the existing gaps in the service including
those faced in the mental healthcare delivery system for Aboriginal and Torrest Strait
Islanders (Dawson et al., 2017).
Principle:
The main principles that have been addressed by the mental health reform by the
Australian Government for 2012-2022 includes the provision of specialized care for elderly

3ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
people living with mental health conditions, support early detection of mental health
problems, improving emergency mental health services especially in the rural regions,
increasing funding for mental health services and increasing support given at community
levels (Lewis & Garton, 2017). Apart from these, another important principle of the mental
health reform is to support patients living with mental health problems to better cope with
their conditions and helping them to overcome their mental health problem through mental
healthcare so that they can get back to their normal way of life (Ridley et al., 2017).
Steps of implementation:
Different methods are involved in the implementation of mental health reforms by the
Australian Government. In the context of the given mental healthcare reform the first priority
is given to the function of Primary Health Networks (PHN) (Minas et al., 2013). The PHN
plays a key role in the relay of governmental policies and decisions that are related to the
channeling of funds of healthcare agencies through both local as well as regional sources.
Different mental health programs exist under the PHN management such as programs for the
development of mental health conditions in rural and remote regions, detecting the early
warning signs of mental health problems such as psychosis, prevention of suicide rates
among patients with mental health conditions and improving access to allied healthcare
(Knox et al., 2014). Moreover, the PHN utilizes a regional approach in order to reduce the
rates of suicide among mental health patients and improve access to mental health service for
patients suffering from severe mental health conditions or at high risk of developing severe
mental health problems. In addition of supporting patients living with severe mental health
conditions, PHN also aims to improve access to health for patients with mild to moderate
mental health issues (also known as low intensity service) thereby further increasing the
coverage of mental health services (Griffiths et al., 2015; Happell et al., 2017).